On Monday evening, the Atlanta Braves took their third straight loss with an ugly 6-2 thrashing at the hands of the Los Angeles Angels as they continue their West Coast swing. The Braves were largely shut down in this one thanks to the pitching of Angels star Jose Soriano, who pitched eight innings, allowing just three hits and recording ten strikeouts on the evening.
After the game, Braves manager Walt Weiss had no choice but to give credit where it was due to Soriano for his epic performance.
“It’s some of the best stuff you’ll see in this league,” Weiss said, per Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com. “You hate giving credit to opposing pitchers, but sometimes you have to. That was big-time stuff right there.”
Soriano has been on a heater to open up this season for the Angels, becoming the fourth pitcher in franchise history “with six-plus innings, one or fewer runs allowed and at least four strikeouts in each of his first three starts of a season,” per Bollinger.
Meanwhile, the Braves have fallen back to Earth after an impressive 6-2 start to the season, now back at 6-5 and losing their lead in the NL East, not that division standings matter that much at this extremely early juncture of the season.
More concerning for the Braves is the fact that multiple of their historically most reliable hitters have struggled out of the gates so far in 2026, including both Austin Riley and former NL MVP Ronald Acuna Jr. Neither Riley nor Acuna recorded a hit during Monday’s game, which can at least partly be attributed to the excellent pitching of Soriano.
The Braves will look to even up the series against Los Angeles on Tuesday evening.
On Monday evening, the Atlanta Braves took their third straight loss with an ugly 6-2 thrashing at the hands of the Los Angeles Angels as they continue their West Coast swing. The Braves were largely shut down in this one thanks to the pitching of Angels star Jose Soriano, who pitched eight innings, allowing just three hits and recording ten strikeouts on the evening.